PBOC could take on a bigger role as Beijing looks to consolidate a fragmented system

BEIJING—China is weighing how to consolidate financial regulation, following missteps that exacerbated market turmoil and embarrassed Beijing. One option under consideration would empower the central bank, as other countries have done in times of risk.

The government has a number of tools for reining in its often freewheeling markets and managing its economy, and it hasn’t shied from using them. But its credibility has been hurt by violent swings in the stock market and unexpected devaluations of the currency over the past...